Mobile Miscellany: week of September 24th, 2012

If you didn't get enough in mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we've opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This past week, Dan Hesse shared his turnaround vision for Sprint, Jim Allchin revealed where T-Mobile stumbled and AT&T welcomed a new GoPhone. Not to stop there, we discovered two updated launchers that've piled on inspiration from Jelly Bean. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of September 24th, 2012.

Dan Hesse predicts Sprint's return to profitability in 2014

Every time Sprint reports its quarterly earnings, it seems that much of the story remains the same: the company is consistently hemorrhaging cash. Following seven years of losses -- nearly $50 billion in all -- Dan Hesse tells Bloomberg that it's now turning a corner. In fact, the Now Network CEO believes that Sprint will return to profitability in 2014. While the prediction should be taken with a rightful degree of skepticism, it's not a wholly outlandish claim, as the publication points out that Sprint's stock has outperformed all but one firm on the S&P 500 for the year. According to Hesse, the company has exited its recovery period and will spend this year and next focused on investments in its network overhaul. Should everything go to plan, Sprint will then begin its growth phase in 2014, where it hopes to bring in new customers and serve them with a fully modern network infrastructure. [Bloomberg]

Meet the Huawei Fusion 2: AT&T's latest Android-powered GoPhone

The Huawei Fusion 2 first reared its head in July of this year with its appearance at the FCC, but the entry-level smartphone gained a new level of distinction this week as a member of AT&T's GoPhone lineup. For $100, consumers will find a device that combines Android 2.3 and an 800MHz CPU within a Snapdragon S1 SoC. Keeping with the starter smartphone theme, the Fusion 2 also offers a 3.5-inch HVGA touchscreen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, 2GB of built-in storage and a 4GB microSD card. [PhoneScoop]

Apex Launcher and Nova Launcher gain Jelly Bean features

Apex and Nova Launcher are each excellent choices for those wanting greater customization of their smartphone's interface, and as it just so happens, both products were updated this week to include features from the Android 4.1 launcher. Common between the two, users will find that desktop items automatically rearrange themselves to fit on the screen, the ability to flick apps and widgets off of the home screen and numerous performance improvements. If you've yet to find a favorite among the two launchers, we recommend giving both a whirl -- each app has fans around these parts, and you're bound to enjoy one of 'em. [Android Police 1, 2]

T-Mobile's Jim Alling: the company lost its way in wake of AT&T merger

During his keynote address before the Competitive Carriers Association (formerly the Rural Cellular Association), T-Mobile's Chief Operating Officer, Jim Alling expressed his belief that the company lost its way in the wake of its proposed sale to AT&T. According to Alling, T-Mobile placed the interests of its shareholders above the needs of its customers, and as such, many subscribers fled. Some of you may recall that Alling recently served as T-Mobile's interim CEO, and his comments certainly stand as a damning assessment of the Humm era. Alling is chalking it up to a hard lesson, however, as he states that the carrier is refocusing its efforts to put customers first. Perhaps its most recent foray into unlimited data plans was introduced with that in mind. [CNET]